Summer Girl
by Rampage-on-Your-Wings
Summary: au: In which it wasn't Tatia who captured their hearts. Klarolijah
1. Prologue

A/N: I own nothing

It is Niklaus who sees her first that faithful summer day. He's just a young man, 25 perhaps, helping his mother and Rebekah, when she walks by. She's beautiful with her blonde curls and happy dancing green eyes. He yearns and he wants with the entirety of his teenage self and he doesn't understand how one as lovely as she could possibly exist. He tries to step away from Rebekah who hasn't noticed her brother's attentions have been taken from her, only to be called by his mother to come inside. He wants to disobey and go after but she was gone from his eyes. With a silent vow to himself to find her another day, he goes inside.

/

Elijah sees her a week later, or rather, he hears her. He's taking a walk through the woods enjoying the summer heat when he hears a song, and he's captivated. He follows the sound until he stumbles across the singer, bathing in a small pond. All he sees is her back, and then the slight curve of her breasts when she lifts her arms and he looks away because she's a lady and he will not see anything he hasn't been permitted to see. He does steal a quick glance at her back once more before he turns and goes the way he came.

/

They are together the next time she appears, not two days after Elijah saw her. They're simply having a go with their swords, having fun. And then she appears, their lovely summer girl with Rebekah and Henrik of all people. Both girls are smiling and laughing at something the other said when she spots them. Boyishly wanting to impress her it is Elijah who takes a jab at his brother. Nik of course laughs and comes at him and cuts his belt, sending it to the ground. Eljiah lets out a good natured laugh but looks up to see the lovely lady giggling. Nik sees this as well, but it does not embarrass him. In fact it makes him smile and offer a little bow which makes her smile. The elder brother frowns at this, but before he's able to say anything their father is on Nik, yelling and rough. Elijah has never appreciated this, but a part of him is glad to have her see his brother put in his place.

/

She approaches Nik first. It has been a day since the incident and he isn't in the best of moods, but offers a polite nod in her direction. They're in the woods, and it's a lovely afternoon, and he would say she's glowing. Sunlight only makes the inner light she has glow brighter.

She sits beside him and offers a smile. "I'm Caroline," she says. _Caroline. Lovely. _"Niklaus," he replies back. She nods at him, smile widening into a grin. "I know, Rebekah told me." And suddenly he feels a little better.

Elijah listens from behind a tree as their conversation goes on, and she tells his brother she thinks he is very talented. And later, when he returns home, he is cold to his younger brother in a way he has never been before.

He doesn't understand why he's acting this way.

Doesn't understand why a girl he's never even spoke to makes him feel this way.

He just…wants to know her. But she wants to know his brother.

He really should be happy about that, because other than his sister and sometimes his mother no one really shows Nik any consideration. Yet…he just can't. To drown out his sorrows he pays attentions to Tatia, the most beautiful (he still prefers a girl who embodies summer) girl in the village. She has a child, but he doesn't mind.

It becomes hard though, when Caroline deems it appropriate to befriend all Nik's siblings, and since she's already friends with Rebekah and Henrik, she goes to Elijah first. She comes up one day gives him a smile, pointing to his new belt. "I hope that is of stronger material," she tells him, and he lets out a chuckle. He's surprised, and delighted, to see that despite his feelings he's able to just be a friend.

/

As time passes Caroline becomes closer and closer to Nik, who is quite happy. His father's harshness doesn't bother him as much, but Elijah's obvious affections for his girl do. He sees the way he looks at her, the way he smiles at her when she says hello, but most of all he sees the want. He may fool everyone else by courting Tatia but not him. And one day it gets to be a little too much.

Elijah has the audacity to touch her face, kiss her forehead. He doesn't know why, doesn't care to ask. Doesn't bother to see the tears she's been shedding for whatever reason. Doesn't see that Elijah was doing nothing but offering comfort.

All his pent up angers and frustrations leak out and his hands ball into fists.

He stalks up to them.

He draws his hand back.

He lets it fly.

It hits Elijah square in the face.

The elder brother, who was merely trying to comfort Caroline after she found out her mother, her only family left, was deathly ill, was taken aback by his younger brother's assault. Being the honorable man he was, he wiped his face of the blood now pouring from his nose and gently ushered Caroline, who was shocked, to the side and tried to get his brother to calm down. "Niklaus, what has gotten in to you?" he asks, calmly watching as the young man's body shook in such a rage that he couldn't quite understand.

Nik has no answer as he flies at him again, but Elijah sees it coming and blocks, but Nik just comes again and again. Elijah has no choice but to fight back, and now a crowd has been drawn. Caroline is sobbing and begging them to sop because how can she understand that its over her? They've drawn a crowd, Tatia is among them, and it's becoming messy as the boys go to the ground.

Made aware of the situation, Esther runs to her sons with Kol and Finn hot on her heels. Rebekah is somewhere in the crowd, holding Henrik's hand while they listen to their mother scream for the boys to stop. With Kol and Finn pulling them off each other they have to. "Explain yourselves!" their mother demands, but nothing is said. Nik glares at Elijah, who glares back before walking away into the crowd, followed by Tatia. Nik sends their backs such a glare that it leaves his mother speechless as he walks away. She watches as Tatia follows her eldest son, and then turns to watch Niklaus' retreating back. With this visual, how is she to know that it was sweet little Caroline, naïve little summer girl, who caused such a rift. While Caroline rushes, in tears, after Nik, Esther vows she will find a way to end the Petrova child.

/

Nik and Elijah are on unsteady terms but being brothers they couldn't let the rift last and slowly began to calm and forgive. Nik asked for no explanations and neither did Elijah because he knew why. Caroline was more reserved from them after the fight, almost frigid to Nik because when she went to him he was most cruel. She ran from him before he could show her he didn't mean it.

With Elijah she's not so much cold as she is distant. He's apologized for frightening her and she's accepted but won't really speak to him. Fall has come and her summer glow is dimming, and neither brother wants to think of winter.

/

Everything goes horribly after one full moon. Henrik is killed by werewolves, and their mother brings forth the curse of vampirism. Thinking Tatia caused the rift between her sons, Esther used her blood in the spell taking her life with it. She told them, Elijah and Nik, that she took 'that meddling whore' out of their lives to keep them happy. Elijah was the first out of their home to see Caroline. She's bringing medicine from Ayanna to her mother, but it hasn't helped at all. He watches her from the shadows.

/

Nik only goes to see her once he is assured by his brother she is well. She's heading into the forest, tears in her eyes because her mother is now gone, and she is alone. He pulls her into his arms and holds her, whispering promises of love and that he'll never leave her alone. He kisses her look of shock away and holds her close. And then he notices.

Her neck is lovely. Her veins, oh how they tease him. He can't hold back anymore.

Hey eyes widen in horror at his beastial look, and she screams and screams when he suddenly sinks his elongated fangs into her neck. Her cries are drowned out by the screams of his siblings' victims.

/

He transforms after that and Elijah finds her body. There are tears on both sides when Nik turns back and Esther finds them. Elijah is holding their beautiful summer girl close to his body, begging her to wake up while their mother leads her wolf son away. She puts on him a curse, worse than the other, and she shuns him. He rips her heart out.

(Earlier in the day Elijah had slipped some of his blood into the water Caroline was to bring home for her mother because he was told his blood would heal. But Caroline had taken a drink first.)

/

A thousand years later, both brothers are still on strained terms and they're sitting with another pair of brothers, telling them a story. As they were once, the Salvatore brothers were falling for the same girl.

Klaus grins.

Elijah sighs.

"When our family first settled here, there was a girl, she was an exquisite beauty. Every boy of age desired to be her suitor. And none loved her more than Niklaus."

Klaus rolls his eyes. " I'd say there was one who loved her at least as much."

Stefan looks between them. "You both loved the same girl?" _They still do_

/

As Elijah holds her in his arms, he begs for Caroline to come back to him. And then, like a miracle, he hears her gasp. He looks at her, watching as her eyes open.

/


	2. Chapter One: News

A/N: OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO THIS FOREVER. I wanted desperately to continue Summer Girl, but I didn't know how. This attempt is what I will show you, and hopefully the response is alright. I Know its all over the place, but it is near and dear to me and I hope that you will enjoy the story as it goes on. I OWN NOTHING.

* * *

Five hundred years have come and gone and the respected seasons as well. Yet for Niklaus and Elijah it is as if summer has never truly left them, dancing around them in the form of a forever youthful girl. Caroline practically shines with her inner light, illuminating their darkness as much as she possibly could. However there is always a shadow over them. Vampirism, and that damned curse Esther had put upon Niklaus out of spite.

Years that could have been used to release the strain on the relationship with both his siblings and his summer girl were instead spent running from his father and looking for a girl with the same face as Tatia, a girl sacrificed for being caught in his mother's sight. His family problems were more than likely much easier to deal with than getting Caroline to fully trust him again. Part of her still feared him, for it had been his hunger that killed her. She could not truly begrudge him for it though, for it was Elijah's blood that turned her. Perhaps now it was more his possessiveness that frightened her than he himself…

Well, now that that is all said and done, we may actually get on to the story.

* * *

Its late spring, just starting to show signs of summer, when Elijah's henchman returns to the manor that Niklaus has secured for the family bearing news the Mikaelson clan has been waiting for. They're all, save for Finn and Caroline, seated at a large and rather extravagant table enjoying breakfast when he is escorted in by one of many guards. "She, the doppelganger, has been found. I have arranged for her to arrive on your upcoming birthday, M'lord," the vampire, Trevor, announces proudly. Elijah is silent, as is Niklaus, but Rebekah and Kol were in a fit of excited whispers. "I must say," Elijah began, breaking his silence, "that this is a pleasant surprise." Niklaus only smirked and nodded in agreement. "Indeed it is, brother. But.." he paused and locked eyes with Trevor. "Should you be wrong in your claim it'll be yours and your precious little friend's life you pay with." The vampire gulped audibly and nodded, before bidding them good day and hurrying out, the guard right after him.

"Well Nik, that's why no one wants to give you any news on whatever thing! You're just so nasty," Kol stated, playful smirk in place. Elijah sighed at his younger brother's antics, but kept a careful eye on Niklaus who was more than likely to explode upon any little thing. However the news seemed to put him in well enough spirits to simply shrug of Kol's teasing. He ignored it actually. "It seems we are missing someone. Bekah, love, where is Caroline?" he asked. Rebekah merely shrugged her shoulders, popping a grape into her mouth instead of answering her brother about her friend. Elijah leaned in, interested in the girl's whereabouts as well. "Probably off in the gardens or in the stables," she said, scoffing at the idea of how unladylike the girl could be. Of course there was always affection there, for the two were as close as sisters. "Wherever she's off too she's having herself some fun."

* * *

Well Rebekah was half right. Caroline was in the gardens, but only because she was just returning and trying to take the quickest route back into the manor, or prison as she preferred to call it. It was often frowned upon, mostly by Nik, when she went out unescorted into town. But with such a lovely day and the festivities leading up to the false lord's birthday how could she not go? She rather enjoyed the time to herself, not always fussed over by ladies in waiting or the brothers Mikaelson. Of course she did not always frown upon their attentions. She was affectionate towards both, though her relationships with both were somewhat strained. With Nik it was because she still hadn't quite forgiven him for her death. With Elijah it was his involvement in her transformation. Yet she couldn't help but…no she musn't think that. She would not cause any more rift between brothers by loving them both (though they'd already done it themselves by loving her).

Her train of thought kept her from paying too much attention to her surroundings, thus causing her to not see she was approaching one of those she was thinking of. "We missed you at breakfast," Elijah's calm voice said from her left. She jumped in surprise and placed a hand over her heart. "Elijah! You frightened me," she pouted. Elijah simply smiled and shook his head. "My apologies, but perhaps you should make yourself more aware of your surroundings? It does not do a lady well to look so bubble headed," he jested, smile still in place. Caroline flushed at this, but shook it off quickly, lifting her chin in defiance. "My awareness is fine thank you! Maybe you should not sneak up on innocent girls. That's Kol's business, and I must say it does not suit you in the slightest. In fact it's quite detestable," she said.

Elijah chuckled, and it wasn't long before Caroline broke out into a smile and giggled herself. It was moments like this, when Elijah seemed a little like his human self, that she found it easy to forget the past, if only for a few moments. Him she could forgive easier than Nik. While she was happy enough to travel with them, accept their companionship, she was not quie ready for anything else. Elijah at least respected the fact that she was not quite so ready as to jump into some sort of relationship, but Nik was most persistent, with his gifts and whispered promises. There was only so much a girl could take…

Elijah gathered his composure much quicker than she did, putting up his clam and calculated demeanor up once again as he offered her his arm. "I will not ask where you've been, but I do suggest we hurry back inside. There is news to be shared." Caroline's smile turned to a small frown and a sigh, but still she took his arm and let him lead her inside, feeling just a bit curious about whatever news they had.

* * *

The news was, to Caroline at least, was not particularly good. Yes Nik seemed to be quite pleased, Elijah too (more so because perhaps he'd finally be free of the hardship that came with dealing with his brother), but she knew that an innocent girl was to be sacrificed. Forgive her if her value on human life was higher than theirs.

The day went buy in a flurry of excitements surrounding her. The servants were less skittish today, for when Lord Niklaus was happy (perhaps that was the wrong word for it, because rather than happiness it was pure smugness) the entire household was relaxed. The vampires of the home, save Rebekah who had decided she was not to share any space with Kol do to a row they'd had earlier, all sat for supper together that evening, an event that always made Caroline squeamish for the meal always started with a would be slaughter that she was not fond off.

The maids were called in, and each took their place by the one's they'd be feeding. Caroline herself merely drank her blood from a cup, eyes downcast so the others would not see her true nature, even as they flaunted theirs. Elijah did not so much flaunt it of course. He was too…proper for it. Instead he merely took his 'meal' and drank his fill before sending her off, while Kol and Nik drank so greedily that their maids dropped in the spot. They would more than likely be left until after supper concluded, and Caroline was inclined to keep her eyes on her plate and nowhere else.

She truly wondered why she even stayed sometimes. She absolutely detested their mindless killing, even though there was a decade for five when she herself was lost in it, and often thought to pack whatever was needed and simply vanish. Of course she could say her reason for staying was, in fact, because no matter her reservations she did still have affections for Nik (and Elijah too, but how complicated is that?). Though the harsher truth of it was that she'd seen him ruthlessly hunt down those who disappointed him, and they were slaughtered in the worst of ways. . .

"And where in your mind are you tonight love? Surely our company is not all that bad," came Nik's voice, sweet as can be and all wrapped in that devil's face when she looked up at him. "I'm here, just….in thought," she answered honestly. Kol was too busy flashing his teeth at another maid who served him his human meal, but Elijah and looked up from his own plate, eyes carefully darting between the both of them.

"What might those thoughts be?" Caroline held his gaze, studied his smirk, and then sighed. "That I am not hungry," she said, getting up to get out of her chair. Elijah stood as well, as was customary, but Kol could not be bothered to as he had his next meal, and Klaus was to content to just watch her walk off, even if the sight did in fact anger him somewhat.

* * *

Later in the evening, Caroline was in her chambers, dressed for bed and reading one of the newest 'legends' that Elijah and Nik had come up with. These were a way of trying to locate the doppelganger, none of which really worked until, well, today. The tale involved vampires born and werewolves as their slaves, showing the only way they'd ever be free was the moonstone. That was often a repeat, the moonstone, but it was a rather important piece in breaking the curse. With a small yawn she put the parchment down on her desk and got up from her chair. As she turned towards her bed, the sight of Nik lounging on it made her jump a near foot in the air.

Caroline placed a hand over her heart and scowled at him. "First Elijah, and now you. Fine gentlemen you are," she hissed. Nik quirked a brow. "My brother was in your bed?" he asked, voice calm but she could see the heat in his eyes, the way his jaw clenched and the way his hands flexed ever so slightly. She felt a cold rush of fear run down her spine and she immediately shook her head. "N-no! I only meant that now the both of you have snuck up on me. . ." Gaining a little confidence she added, "But he was at least considerate enough of propriety that his occurrence happened in the gardens and NOT my chambers. And speaking of which, why are you here?"

Nik did not answer her immediately, merely getting up from his spot on the bed and making his slow way over to her. She went rigidly still as he closed in, not daring take a step back lest it anger him. "I came to inquire as to why you've been so distant today, and where it was you were this morning," he said as he closed in. Gently he traced the tip of his left index finger along her jawline, and she did her best to repress a shudder. "I…I was in the gardens this morning," she said, not really wanting to answer his questions fully, or truthfully. He sighed and walked passed her, going to her desk where he picked up what she'd been reading. "I do not like it when you lie love, but if you won't tell me where you were then I will accept it. But that leaves my other question. What has caused you to be so distant?"

Caroline wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained from it. "The news," she finally stated after a while. "It was surprising to hear and I had a bit of trouble processing. It is what you've been looking for, for five hundred years after all, and I have been with you for all that time and it is quite…rattling. And I wonder how you'll go about it once the doppelganger arrives." Nik regarded her with a calm face, unresponsive; it seemed, to her little plight.

After a while he simply shrugged. "She will die, the doppleganger, when the time is right. As is needed." And with that, he left Caroline to slump onto her bed, and she was rather grateful he was gone. His words echoed through her mind, over and over, and she felt sorry for the girl who had Tatia's face, whoever she was. What did Elijah have to say about this? Did he have his qualms? Or did he abandon his so called honor? Caroline let out a loud sigh, and turned on her side. She felt that sleep was not a possibility that night, for thoughts of the poor girl would plague her mind all through it…

* * *

REVIEW PLEASE, AND LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS WORTH CONTINUING OR IF I SHOULD SCRAP AND START AGAIN.


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